Israel has dispatched a delegation to negotiate a hostage release deal with Hamas, a government official said on Thursday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to convene his security cabinet to discuss new Hamas positions on an accord.
Before the cabinet meets on Thursday evening, Netanyahu will have consultations with his ceasefire negotiations team, a source in his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, who has sought for months to broker a truce, will also speak with Netanyahu on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter said.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated that the war will end only after all its objectives have been achieved and not a moment before," said the official, who did not specify where the delegation had been sent.
Prior efforts to end the nearly nine-month conflict were mediated by Egypt and Qatar, with talks held in both locations.
Israel received Hamas' response on Wednesday to a proposal made public at the end of May by Biden that would include the release of about 120 hostages held in Gaza and a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.
A Palestinian official close to the mediation effort told Reuters that Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, has shown flexibility over some clauses, that would allow a framework agreement to be reached should Israel approve.
Two Hamas officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Hamas has said any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel maintains it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas is eradicated.
The plan entails the gradual release of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza and the pullback of Israeli forces over the first two phases, and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners. The third phase involves the reconstruction of the war-shattered territory and the return of the remains of deceased hostages.
'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH'
In Gaza, Palestinians reacted cautiously ahead of Israel's response.
"We hope that this is the end of the war, we are exhausted and we can't stand more setbacks and disappointments," said Youssef, a father of two, now displaced in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave. Every hour into this war, more people die, and more houses get destroyed, so enough is enough. I say this to my leaders, to Israel and the world," he told Reuters via a chat app.
On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the nearly nine months of war had passed 38,000, with 87,445 wounded. The health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its figures.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages back into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
An Israeli strike hit a school in Gaza City and the Civil Emergency Service said five Palestinians were killed and others wounded, while other Israeli strikes on Gaza City's old town on Thursday killed a woman and wounded several others, medics said.
The Israeli military said it had been operating to dismantle Hamas' military and administrative capabilities. It said it was acting by international law and taking feasible precautions to minimise civilian casualties.
Israeli tanks also shelled several areas on the eastern side of Khan Younis after the army issued evacuation orders on Tuesday, but there has been no movement by the tanks into those areas, residents said.
SEEKING SHELTER
On Thursday, many Palestinians were still seeking shelter following the evacuation order, which also included the border city of Rafah and which the United Nations said was the largest such edict since 1.1 million people were told to leave the north of the enclave in October.
Khan Younis residents said many families slept on the road because they could not find tents.
Israeli planes and tanks bombed several areas in the northern Gaza areas of Shejaia, Sabra, Daraj, and Tuffah, killing several Palestinians, including children, and wounding others, health officials said.
The Israeli military said its troops and aircraft killed dozens of militants in those areas and in Rafah, in southern Gaza, which Israel has described as Hamas' last stronghold.
Israel's leaders have said they are winding down the phase of intense fighting against Hamas and will soon move to more targeted operations.
However, after months of conflict, Hamas still claims to have munitions to fight back. On Thursday, Hamas' armed wing said it had targeted the Israeli operations command headquarters east of Gaza City with missiles.
The group also claimed that its militants were able to fire a Soviet-built anti-aircraft missile towards an Apache helicopter in the sky over the Shejaia neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, without saying if it had been hit. Israel did not comment on the claims.
The war has created a humanitarian crisis and destroyed the majority of the enclave's medical facilities.
On Thursday, the Gaza health ministry said generators at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, the only main hospital still functioning, would run out of fuel within hours and appealed to international humanitarian organisations for help to secure fresh supplies.
